27. 27
27
“Sixty-eight dollars for four drinks? Girl, that was half my damn tip yesterday!” Barrett laughed. “You are so not a cheap date!”
“Hey, I didn’t make the rules.”
“Yes, you did!” he exclaimed playfully.
Barrett’s Jeep was backed up a few feet away from the treacherous edge of a mountain in the small dirt parking lot of one of the many scenic lookouts in the Grand Tetons. The spot provided a breathtaking view of Jackson, the city small and glinting in the low groove between the mountain ranges. Beams of light stroked the homes there with ethereal fingertips. Green expanses of untouched land spread out around the edges for miles, dotted with elk and cars along the thoroughfare, cutting through the edge of it all.
With the trunk door open wide, Barrett and Chastity sat in the back, bundled together in a fleece blanket, watching in serene silence as the sun lowered toward the horizon, bathing everything in a soft, daffodil-colored glow.
As the minutes ticked on, streetlights ignited, glittering like fireflies in the distance. Leaning back, Chastity breathlessly gazed at dusk’s palette of plums and tangerines along the scattered clouds that had formed far overhead. Tears pricked her eyes as she appreciated the view, so glad to be in this moment with a man beside her who made her heart and stomach dance.
Barrett leaned against the backing of the rear seats, ignoring a view that would still the heart of the finest painter, instead focused on the glint of tears in Chastity’s ochre eyes.
“Why are you crying?” he asked gently, with no hint of judgment or humor in his tone.
“Oh,” she said, allowing the tears to fall from her face.
Barrett watched as the stream of liquid captured the colors of the evening sky as it traveled to her quivering lips.
“I can’t seem to control it. Just… my fucked-up emotions getting the best of me. Being bipolar sucks, sometimes.”
Barrett wiped her cheek softly. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Chalk having emotions up to some disorder. You’re not expected to be a robot. Emotions make us human. You’re allowed to feel .”
Chastity clamped her hands together nervously. “I guess I didn’t realize I was doing that.”
They sat in silence, one eventually broken by a sharp sniffle. “When you find out you have this… thing … inside of you that’s wrong, you question every emotion, every feeling, wondering if it’s normal, you know?”
“I can’t name one single normal person. Normal isn’t real. It doesn’t exist. Chastity, you are extraordinary . You… who you are… everything you are, is completely one-of-a-kind.”
Chastity shifted herself up to the edge of the trunk, wiggling her feet restlessly above the dirt.
After a moment, Barrett spoke again. “Ever since you told me about the diagnosis, I’ve been thinking a lot about it. About you . And about my high school friend. I wondered for a long time if I could’ve done or said something to save him. I tried to put myself in Alan’s shoes to understand why he thought it was the right decision to leave this world, and I just… couldn’t. I watched him wither up, mentally, afraid to seek any help, afraid to take any meds. He let it define him.”
Barrett sighed long and deep.
“He didn’t have the disorder. It had him .”
Chastity’s voice was small. “I’m sorry… about your friend.”
“It honestly broke my heart. He started isolating himself and self-medicating with drugs. One night, he just… took too much. Wanted to take it all away, I suppose. Wanted to stop it all. The good and the bad.”
Chastity’s tears suddenly emerged again. “You know it wasn’t your job to save him, right? You couldn’t control how he handled it.”
“I know.” He shifted forward, lifting her colorful hair and kissing the back of her neck. In between kisses, he spoke. “I just don’t ever want to see you go down the same path.”
She nodded.
“I shouldn’t be giving you life advice, though. I’m a fucking mess myself.”
She snickered through the tears. He slid his legs around her and massaged her shoulders. She moaned, leaning back into his body.
“I’m a grown-ass man who wears Halloween costumes for a living. I don’t know what I’m doing. I have no idea where I am going or what I want, except for this… right now.”
He stared past her at the sun as it nestled behind the steep mountains. “I live in a pig sty, and I get into dumb bar fights. I’m just a fuckin’ mess.”
Barrett reached behind him and unzipped an insulated bag, pulling a plastic-wrapped sub out and placing it in her hands.
“Awww, you made me a sandwich?” she asked.
He laughed. “ Hell no. I’m a terrible cook, too. I like you too much to put you through that. This is from the deli by my place. Best sandwiches in Jackson. I got you what I normally order. Hope that’s alright.”
Grasping the delicately wrapped sandwich, she nodded, offering him a broad smile. “Thank you.”
Chastity took a bite and was pleasantly surprised at the delicate, airy ciabatta bread encasing fresh veggies, turkey, provolone, and a white sauce she couldn’t place.
“Damn, that’s good. What the hell is this sauce? I want a gallon of it.”
“It’s good, right?”
She nodded with her mouth full. Once she swallowed, she spoke. “I’m a damned mess, too. I loathe dishes. I’m always dying my hair. I need a lot of attention, as terrible as that sounds. I don’t vote. I smoke weed sometimes to help me sleep when I’m amped up. I cry, obviously. Sometimes, a lot. Sometimes, for seemingly no reason, have since I was a kid.”
“I like you.” He twisted a finger around one of her loose curls and nuzzled the shell of her ear with his nose. “Tears and all.”
He kissed her neck again, lips and tongue stroking the delicate skin there. He breathed her in. “I can still smell just the faintest hint of your jasmine perfume on my pillow.”
“Eww,” she joked quietly, “you never washed it?”
“The rest of the bedding, yes. The pillow, no. It’s all I had left of you.”
He gently stroked the bare flesh of her shoulder with his thumb. “I think about that night all the time.”
Chastity cleared her throat, her voice coming out more hushed than before. “I do, too.”
Hope effervesced deep in his chest, making him feel impossibly light. She was like a missing piece of the puzzle within him, a feeling that struck him with equal parts joy and terror.
“I keep having dreams that I’m in the rainforest, hopelessly lost, and all of a sudden, I peel back these leaves, looking for a path, and I see it there… this bright, blue orchid, growing out from between the cracks of a rock wall. This beautiful thing is just there… thriving, rooted in such an inhospitable place. And then I wake up, and I realize it’s your tattoo. But more than that, it’s you , this rare and delicate thing, splitting rock, laughing in the face of adversity.”
Chastity couldn’t find the words to reply.
“I meant to ask… why a blue orchid?” His hand slid beneath the hem of her shirt, stroking the sensitive skin where her inked image resided.
“They represent rarity and calmness. Seeing it reminds me to focus when my emotions are getting the best of me.”
“I like that.”
With his hand beneath her shirt, he tickled her for a moment. She giggled joyfully and nearly dropped the last bit of her sandwich.
“Stop,” she begged.
Barrett’s fingers slowed. He closed his eyes and wished he could capture the sound of her laughter to play on repeat forever.
Chastity finished her sandwich, hopped out, and walked to the edge of the lookout, peering down at the height of the drop-off and staring out at the dusky sky. “It’s stunning out here.”
“You’ve never been?” Barrett scooted to the edge of the Wrangler, allowing his cowboy boots to drag in the dirt.
“No, not to this lookout.” Chastity returned to him, leaning in for a kiss, lips soft and warm.
He wrapped his arms around her. As the kiss deepened, she climbed atop his lap. His eyes widened with surprise as she nestled onto him. His hands ran up her bare thighs, his erection emerging between them, stiff and hard beneath his zipper.
He pulled his face away, eyes peering into hers as if to assure that she was alright, searching her flushed face for any sign of unease. When he saw nothing, he gestured to his crotch. “Sorry about him. Poor bastard has no manners.”
Instead of a verbal reply, she ground her needy pelvis against his lap, diving back in to claim his mouth with her own. As their lips met, the current between them grew to the force of a riptide, and he purred. His demanding hands gripped her, winding around slowly into her shorts to massage her ass.
His stubble scraped against her chin. Her hair tickled the sides of his face. Their breathing turned ragged as they squirmed, one of his hands moving to the back of her neck to pull her closer.
She pulled away for a moment, eyes lusty, even in the waning light.
“What’s wrong?” he panted.
She looked around. “Now that the sun’s down, it’s freezing out here.”
“Want to move this party to the back seat?”
She nodded, and a mischievous smile spread all the way across her face. She hopped out again and crawled into the back seat. Barrett closed up the hatch, turned on the car, and cranked the heater.
“Ummm, Barrett?”
“Yeah?” As soon as he looked in the back, he let out an exasperated sigh. “Dammit, you weren’t supposed to see that yet. I was going to give that to you at the end of the night.”
“This is for me?!” she shouted.
“You don’t know how hard it was for me to find a blue orchid around these parts.”
“Barrett!” She clutched the pot of the sickly, spindly plant to her chest.
“It needs a bit of TLC.”
She fingered the pale cerulean petals and gave him a smile of appreciation. “Thank you. I love it.”
“Happy housewarming.”
She squealed, handing it up to him. “Would you put it on the floorboard? I don’t want her getting crushed.”
“Sure thing.”
He set the planter on the floor and joined her in the back seat. They stared at each other for a moment, Chastity’s smile fading back into something more intense. Her breath hitched as he approached, running his fingers through the hair at the base of her neck, gripping some with a firm and steady fist. He licked his lips, eyes refocusing on her mouth, pulse thundering in his neck like a jackhammer.
Her head drifted back with the pressure of his grasp, and she let out a soft moan as he caressed the exposed skin of her neck and shoulders with his mouth. She squeezed her legs together to ease the ache as his tongue glided across her chest, plunging down into the top of her bra as he pulled her hair back harder.
She was frozen in his grasp. Too eager to breathe right. To turned-on to think.
He kissed the flesh of her upper breast and latched on hard, sucking forcefully enough to leave a solid mark. He pulled away seconds later with a wet pop .
“Did you just give me a hickey?” She pulled away from his grip enough to look down. “Are we in high school ?”
His lips curled into a grin, eyes full of something wild and enticing. “I wanted you to have something to remember me in the coming days. This should keep the boys at bay, so you have time to give it some thought. If you want to be with me, I don’t share . ”
Part of her wanted to be offended, but the act... the magenta mark it left... the ownership it displayed made her utterly turned on.
“I think I want more , Aphrodite.”
“Of what?”
“Of you . I knew the second I laid eyes on you that you were intoxicating. If you don’t feel the same, I understand. But tonight, I’m satisfied leaving you with a little reminder, a little sign to show the other men I call dibs.”
She pulled her shirt down to see the small circle on her breast. “Dibs? I’m not a piece of meat or a plot of land to claim.” Her voice raised a little and lowered again as he caressed her inner thigh. “What if I have no clue what I want?”
“Take a beat to decide, Aphrodite. We can fool around if that’s all you want, but I’d like more. I want you to be mine and mine alone.”
“And you’d be mine?”
“Yes.”
“Mine… and all the horny wives of Jackson. ”
“That’s just a job, Chastity. I’m not fucking them. I’m talking about a relationship. I’m talking about coffee in the morning or stroking your hair while we fall asleep watching trash reality shows. I’m talking about a future and trust.”
“Can’t we just… I don’t know…”
“Chastity, now that I’ve had you, I want all of you. If you don’t want me, we can go back to playing the field. But I don’t want to be half-in this thing, whatever it is. I want you. All of you. Body and soul. I won’t settle for anything less.”
Barrett shifted back into his seat until he was staring out of the windshield.
“Alright.” She laughed and grabbed the seat belt behind her. “So you’re just gonna drop me off all wound up with a purple hickey on my boob?”
Barrett chuckled. “Part of you is purple .” He looked down at his lap. “Part of me is blue . I’d say we’re just about even.”
There was a long silence where only the wind spoke in a quiet howl, rocking the Jeep a little before dying down.
Finally, she spoke.
“Barrett, I really like you…”
“But…?”
“But… I don’t want to drag you -- or anyone -- into my bipolar shit-storm. This… us… it’s poor timing.”
“I’m a big boy. I’m no stranger to a shit-storm. Give me a chance . Let me decide for myself what I can handle.”
“I have no idea what I want out of life, Barrett.”
“You’re twenty-five. You don’t have to have it all figured out yet.” His eyes were fixed on hers. “Chastity, I fucking want you.”
“I want you, too,” she said softly. “I’m just… scared .”
He pressed his forehead to hers, tenderly stroking her jaw.
Without another word, she bolted forward, pressing her lips to his and kissing him with urgency, hands clutching his hair, his shirt, his belt, needing him, needing to not lose him, needing to feel everything about him in and on her body all at once.
He fumbled with the button on her shorts. Her chest heaved as he tugged down her zipper, exposing the lacy black fabric obscuring the bald, sensitive skin beneath.
Kneeling up on the seat, he climbed across to her, his lips pressing against hers more gently this time, thumbs hooking her underwear, other fingers clenching, pulling down, prying all fabric off her ass like a magician trying to whip away a tablecloth while leaving the plates. She bucked her hips up to assist, helping him yank her clothes roughly down her thighs, stopping at her ankles.
His eyes lapped at every inch of silky smooth skin, narrowing with a look of barely-contained desire. He unzipped his pants, reached in, and fisted the bulge, giving himself a stroke outside the fabric of his briefs.
He tugged her shorts and panties around her untied shoes, tossing the wadded clothing onto the floorboard.
“ Spread your pretty little legs for me ,” he murmured with a groan. “ Show me how you want me to touch you. Show me how you like to be touched. ”
A heady mixture of lust and want washed through her, dampening everything between her legs as she propped a foot high up on the passenger seat headrest, the other trembling in the crevice of the back seat. She slid her hands down to her wet, aching pussy. As her fingers rounded her thigh, he watched intensely, like a man possessed. The sight of her fingertips swirling gently against her swollen clit made him feel light-headed.
“Fuck, baby. You look incredible,” he gritted out, voice lowering an octave beneath the weight of his desire.
He’d give every dime he had to stop time itself, making this moment last as long as it possibly could.
Her fingers glistened beneath the dome light’s beam. Barrett leaned through the seats and turned the radio dial slightly, changing the music to a song with a fitting tempo, one that pulsed like her strokes.
Chastity’s chest heaved, her eyes locked on his as they roamed her body. Her mouth fell open as the tight bundle of nerves between her legs shot a bolt of ecstasy through her. Her back arched at the pleasure brought to her by her own hands.
Barrett’s jealous mouth watched, parched like a man in the desert looking at the sweet, wet oasis that beckoned him.
A spot of pre-cum dampened the front of his pants, cowboy boots grinding noisily against the dirt and rocks beneath his feet. The cold night air nipped at his back while the heaters inside blasted.
His jaw tightened, greedy gaze locked on her shaking, parted legs. He scooped his arms under her knees and yanked her across the seat toward the open door.
She playfully yelped and giggled, and he dropped to his knees on the rough terrain. Barrett spread her thighs and dove in, lightly swiping his tongue up, savoring the taste of her. She gasped at the first contact and then relaxed, slowly tilting her hips up toward his mouth. He alternated between gentle sucks and languid strokes, stubble skimming her most intimate parts, sending goosebumps up her legs.
His moan vibrated against her, and soon, he felt her breath hitch and her muscles pulse. Her body glistened with a thin sheen of sweat.
Enjoying every second of his lavish laps, Chastity shut her eyes, fingers moving through his black hair and gripping the back of his neck. The delicious sensation soon gave way to euphoria. Her entranced eyes pinched closed as another moan escaped her lips.
One of his hands snaked up the crease of her thigh, dipping beneath the hem of her blouse, pushing up her bra with his fingers before making contact with one of her piercings. Her back arched as he relentlessly rolled the studded pebble between his fingers.
Chastity groaned, pressing her clit against his mouth, chasing the high of another imminent orgasm.
Barrett pulled away and licked his glistening lips. “You’re a greedy little thing. I love it. ”
She whined, body writhing, seeking more contact. He slowly blew cool air against her hot folds, watching her body grow rigid and then relax again. When he resumed, the renewed heat of his tongue against her skin brought her right back to the cliff’s edge, ready to plummet swiftly.
His lips and tongue pulled away, and his other hand made its way to her entrance. He inched two fingers inside of her, making her gasp.
“You like that?”
“ Mmmm-hmmmm ,” she purred, nodding at him.
“Whose pussy is this?” He slid his fingers out and back in again as slowly as he could possibly manage.
“ Hmmmm? ” He pressed in again, curling them up into her depths for pressure.
“ Say it , Aphrodite.”
He slipped his fingers in a third time.
“Whose… fucking… gorgeous,” he sucked the juices off of her folds hard enough to pinken them instantly, “bare… little… pussy is this, Aphrodite?”
“ Yours ,” she finally whispered, laying her head back and moaning from another plunge of his slippery fingers. “ That’s your pussy. ”
She shoved her hips down against him, sinking him deeper into her warmth.
“That’s right. That’s mine .” He slid his flattened tongue in circles around her clit again. “Is my beautiful little pussy gonna cum again for me?”
She moaned, clutching at the seat belt and bucking him again. He spread her thighs wider and dipped his tongue inside of her.
“ Fuck .”
He pulled back and smiled, wearing her juices like chapstick. “ You … like this . You’re the only fucking meal I ever want to eat again.”
His mouth consumed her with a new, fevered urgency.
“Oh, God,” she croaked. “Barrett, you’re… you’re gonna make me cum.”
Her muscles clenched around his fingers as she came again. Her back arched with wave after wave of intense pleasure.
Suddenly, they both froze as gravel crunched beneath tires in front of Barrett’s Jeep. They panicked frantically, scrambling to find her pants on the floor.
“ Shit ,” he hissed, looking back at the approaching squad car.
“Fuck.” Chastity scrambled to pull her pants right-side-out, shoving her legs clumsily in the holes. Barrett shoved her feet inside, and the Jeep jostled as he shut the door. He stood in front of it, buying her a few more precious seconds to dress as the officer stepped out and approached on foot. He subtly zipped his jeans as the uniformed officer smiled.
It was John Ridgeway again.
“Fancy seeing you twice in one week, Barrett.”
Barrett let out a laugh that was relief mixed with jumbled nerves. “What can I say? I missed you. Couldn’t wait to hang out again.”
“We gotta stop meeting like this,” John laughed, shining his giant flashlight into the fogged back seat at Chastity. She waved, hair tangled, shirt hanging oddly.
“Don’t either of y’all have a nice, warm, private bedroom?” John shined his light right into Barrett’s eyes. After a second, he lowered it to Barrett’s erection. “Happy to see me?”
Barrett covered the bulge with his hands.
“I’d say it’s a little cold to be out here with no jacket, but it seems like you two are being creative at, uh, keeping things nice and hot .”
Barrett smiled, embarrassed.
“You know, it’s funny.” John turned off his flashlight and clipped it on his cluttered utility belt. “I was just up here the other day busting some horny teenagers. This place is apparently called Make-out Point by the local kids who don’t seem to understand that it’s illegal to have sex in public. Wild, right?”
John had driven his point home.
“I know my jail is real cozy. But hows about you and her keep warm in a hotel room so I don’t have to keep hauling your ass in? Hmm?”
“Sure thing.” Barrett nodded.
“You two have a nice night.” As Officer Ridgeway got back to his squad car, he spoke again. “Oh, and Barrett?”
“Yeah?”
He clicked on his flashlight again and shined it on the wad of lacy panties on the gravel near Barrett’s boots. “Our motto out here is ‘ Take only pictures, leave only footprints ,’ ya hear?”